


They All Fall Down

by miraculous_me



Series: Love and Dodgeball [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Angst, F/M, Fluff, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Sequel, dodgeball au, i don't know how this turned in to a fucking soap opera but here we are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 01:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculous_me/pseuds/miraculous_me
Summary: The sequel toThe Harder They FallAfter the devastating loss at Sectionals and Chat Noir's disappearance Team Miraculous has fallen apart. When all seems lost Marinette learns of a chance to redeem themselves and compete in Nationals. With the help of some new teammates, Team Miraculous fights their way back to the top. But Le Papillon still has a few tricks up his sleeves and does everything in his power to destroy Team Miraculous for good.





	They All Fall Down

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys.  
> I know this has been a long time coming. The Harder They Fall was my first ML fic and it holds a special place in my heart. I hope you all enjoy this AU as much as I do and hopefully get a little bit of closure after that massive cliffhanger.

Adrien Agreste sat on the bench and stared blankly at the gym doors while dribbling his dodgeball. Like always he was the first one at practice. He wasn’t allowed to arrive with his father, one of the many rules of his new world order. Nationals were at the end of September, so he had to train mercilessly with his new team. He was no longer allowed to be in contact with Marinette, Fu or any of Team Miraculous until he returned to Paris.

Although, father assured him there was no more Team Miraculous. After their crushing defeat, Gabriel put in motion a plan to break them up for good. Adrien didn’t know the details, he didn’t even ask. All he cared about was Marinette. He was doing this for her. He loved her so much, he couldn’t bare to see her get hurt over some stupid family drama.

The doors of the gym burst open. The Bubbler was the first to arrive. Like Team Miraculous, Team Akuma had secret identities as well. The gimmick was cheap, but right now he was thankful for it.

“Chat Blanc, my man,” The Bubbler gave him a high five. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he muttered. “And please, Chat is fine.” He hated is new identity with a passion. In the white mask he was completely different from his Chat Noir persona. As Chat Noir he was savve playful and fun. But now, putting on the mask made him angry and resentful. It showed when he played on the court and interacted with his team. His father didn’t care. As long as they won, nothing mattered.

“Sorry, Chat,” The Bubbler said. “Everyone is just so intense here. My girlfriend quit the team, so I don’t have anyone to talk to anymore.”

“You dated someone on the team?”

“Yeah, Lady Wifi,” he smirked. “We hit it off during practices and we decided to take the chemistry off the court if you know what I mean.”

“I thought relationships between teammates were forbidden?”

“As long as the boss man doesn’t find out you can do whatever you want.” He said. “It doesn’t matter since she left the team anyway. She asked me to quit with her, but I really want to go to Nationals. There’s only one tournament left before Nationals and I don’t have the time to get a new team together.”

Adrien perked up. “Another tournament?”

“The Underground Tournament is where the losing teams in France gather if they want a second chance. It’s a huge bracket, usually the runners up in Sectionals are seeded into the top eight. It’s in two weeks, how did you not know about this?”

“I’ve been a little preoccupied.” Did Team Miraculous know about this? They had to. But if his Father was right and he broke up the team, Fu would keep that information to himself. He had to know if Marinette knew or not.

The rest of the team filed into the gym from the locker room, his father followed shortly. Like always he wore a three piece suit and a butterfly mask completely covering his features. What would the world think of to fashion designer Gabriel Agreste if they knew he used his money and influence to blackmail dodgeball players?

“Line up.” Le Papillon blew his whistle. Everybody sprinted to the center line. At the beginning of each practice Le Papillon had the team run sprints across the court for five minutes to build stamina. This could be the the window of opportunity Adrien needed to get away. Le Papillon blew his whistle again. Adrien sprinted to the end of the count and back several times before he stopped and fell to his knees.

“Chat Blanc, what’s the matter?” His father rushed to his side.

“I don’t feel so good,” Adrien clutched his stomach. “I think it was something I ate.”

“Would you like to sit on the bench?” 

Adrien shook his head. “I think I need to go home and lie on my own bed. I have such a busy day ahead of me, I think just need some rest.”

Adrien had a photoshoot a couple hours after practice. He would cost the company a lot of money to reschedule. He knew his father’s Achilles Heel.

“Fine,” his father said. “You can go home. Get some rest. Everyone else, line up.”

“Thank you,” He said.

“I’ll have Nathalie call the family doctor to check on you when you arrive,” his father whispered.

“No need,” Adrien insisted. “I think crackers and ginger ale will be sufficient for now.”

“All right,” He stood up. “Go home. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow morning.”

“Sure thing,” Adrien muttered. Ironically they saw each other more at practice over the past two weeks than they saw each other at home.

Adrien changed in the locker room quickly and met his driver in front of the building. “Take me to Tom and Sabine’s Boulangerie Patisserie.” His driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Please don’t ask questions. It will only be five minutes. If you don’t want to lie to my father go to the store down the street and get ginger ale and crackers.” His driver never lifted his gaze from Adrien. “I’ll be careful I promise. Please, I need to see her.” His driver nodded and started the car. He was a man of very few words, but he did care about Adrien’s happiness.

It was early Saturday morning. Team Miraculous didn’t practice on Saturday, so Marinette had to be working in the bakery. Saturday morning were very busy. They pulled up in front of the bakery minutes later. It was still early, the shop hadn’t opened yet, but he saw Marinette in the window.

His heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t seen her in ages. She was just as beautiful as ever. Her long dark hair was tied up in a bun at the top of her head. She held herself with such confidence and grace even when covered with flour. There was a certain light around her when she smiled. He had no idea how he didn’t know she was his lady.

He knocked on the glass door. Marinette jumped. “Adrien?” She mouthed.

“Hi,” he waved.

Marinette unlocked the door. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by and see how you were doing.”

“I’m doing all right considering you abandoned me at the fundraiser and disappeared for two weeks.” 

Adrien sucked in his teeth. He did not think this through. A lot happened in the span of twenty four hours. He planned on apologizing to Marinette after the Finals, but after his father’s revelation he had to cease communication with her at once.

“Sorry about that. I got caught up in business talk and when I got back you weren’t there.”

“I get it, you’re a busy man. I left too, but I came back. You never answered my calls or texts. You haven’t been around the Rec Center at all. You just disappeared completely.” 

“I’m sorry, but we can talk now, can I come in?”

Marinette sighed and opened the door wider. Adrien stepped into the bakery. The smell of fresh baked bread filled his nose. His stomach grumbled.

“Are you hungry?”

“A little,” Adrien didn’t each much before practice.

Marinette grabbed a chocolate croissant from behind the counter and handed it to adrien. It was still warm. Adrien took a bite and savored to chocolaty goodness. “This is amazing, thank you. How much?” He reached for his wallet.

“It’s on the house,” Marinette said.

“Thank you.” Adrien finished off the pastry in a two bites. Marinette giggled. “What?”

“You have chocolate on your,,,” she pointed to his cheek.

“Where,” he rubbed his face, Marinette shook her head.

“Here,” Maritte took a napkin and wiped his cheek clean. This was the closest he’s been to he since the night of Finals. God he missed her. Adrien pulled her closer. Marinette looked up into his eyes. He leaned forward.

“No,” Marinette broke away. “You can’t just disappear for two weeks and then show up and–.”

“Sorry,” he ran his hands through his head. “I can’t assume things are the same after what happened.”

“The same? We’re just friend’s Adrien. You made that pretty clear on multiple occasions.”

Marinette’s words punched him in the gut. After everything they’ve been through she thought they were just friends? It was his own fault. He introduced her to all of the guests as a friend at the fundraiser. “A lot happened the weekend of the fundraiser. There is so much I wish I could tell you.”

“Then tell me,” She stepped closer.

Adrien locked eyes with Marinette. If he told her about his father, this would put her and the rest of the team in danger. No, not until Nationals were over and he found his mother. “I can’t, not right now. But I swear, I didn’t plan on leaving you.” Adrien’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He broke eye contact to check the message. His driver was out front with the groceries. He needed to leave now. Shit. He got so caught up in the moment completely forgot about the Underground Tournament. “I–”

“Are you going to disappear again?”

“Yes,” he said truthfully. He was taking a big risk seeing her now. The next month will be excruciating, but he needed to protect her.

“Okay then,” she nodded. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“For now, at least.” Adrien headed to the door. “By the way, I know you like dodgeball. There’s an underground tournament in a couple weeks. You should think about entering. The winning team gets a spot in Nationals.”

Adrien closed the door behind him. Hopefully he’d planted the seeds and will see his Lady play at Nationals.

Team Miraculous will rise again.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to check out [Ashes Ashes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13269855/chapters/30361506) for addition Love and Dodgeball content.  
> Yell at me on [tumblr](http://miraculoussideblog.tumblr.com)


End file.
